At the inaugural of the 15th Jaguar Land Rover showroom in India, we have a quick 5 session with Del Sehmar, PR and Communications Manager, Jaguar Land Rover India. Jaguar Land Rover is now based in 13 major cities in the country and is increasingly growing its presence.
1. With the inaugural of the third dealership in Maharashtra, JLR is going strong with its number of touch points also. How many more can we see in Maharashtra?
Del : Yes, our dealership expansion continues at a pace and we are looking at several further locations in the Maharastra region.
2. JLR's sales growth has been tremendous. Do we see introduction of any new vehicles this year?
Del : Jaguar Land Rover will deliver 40 significant product actions in the next 5 years and this will mean that we will launch new products in India. We have recently launched the Jaguar XKR Special Edition, the Jaguar XJ Ultimate will be here by the end of the year and next year we will launch the F-Type - an all new convertible sports car inspired by the dramatic C-X16 concept.
3. Is Jaguar contributing the most or is LR in the sales numbers?
Del : It is almost a 50:50 contribution by Jaguar and Land Rover - both brands are doing well in helping us grow in India.
4.How many more dealerships can we expect in the near future?
Del : We have just opened our 15th dealership in Pune. We aim to have 20 dealerships by the end of this fiscal year. That's pretty good progress since our first showroom was only opened in mid 2009.
5. Any plans to increase the assembly in Pimpri?
Del : At present, we are producing the Freelander 2 and this started in May 2011.We don't have any firm plans for further products, however, will continue to examine the business case.
